10 Awesome Wrestling Matches That Had Harsh Consequences

SummerSlam 2013 was an excellent night of wrestling, and after Brock Lesnar and CM Punk had torn the house down in their No DQ match, Daniel Bryan and John Cena were charged with closing the show.

While Punk and Lesnar went for pure violence, Cena and Bryan worked an old-fashioned wrestling match. It was the people’s avatar against the company’s golden boy, and with an immense groundswell of support behind him, Bryan secured the biggest win of his career. He became WWE Champion for the very first time, and after all the trials and tribulations he’d been through up to that point, it was impossible not to feel happy for him.

Heartache was just around the corner, however. Triple H, the match’s special guest referee, turned on Bryan as he was celebrating. One Pedigree later, and Randy Orton had successfully cashed-in his Money In The Bank briefcase. Bryan’s long-awaited title run was over in a matter of minutes, and thus began one of the most reviled factions in wrestling history.

The Authority sucked the life out of WWE. Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and their revolving door of chosen corporate champions rendered Raw’s first 30-minutes unwatchable with their endless talking segments, and their continued need to put themselves over more popular talent became increasingly unbearable. Their mere presence dragged everything else down, ratings continued their steady decline, and the threat of an imminent Authority reunion continues to sour Raw’s main event scene in 2016.